You're just never safe in his hands, I think that's a part of it. Often as readers/viewers we trust the author/artist to carry us safely through the story, but some (like Firth) are exceptions. Even in the calmest moments there's a lurking potential for some flash of bloody horror suddenly happening.
I have a different opinion then everyone here. Basically, the definition of fear, or a scary story, is the unknown. When you say, "realistic" that really isn't defining the genre. That is simply a skill that only good authors can do in order to connect the readers to the characters--which exist in every genre. In order to truly scare someone, two forms of criteria have to be meet. It must challenge, in some way, their basic psyche of understanding. Regardless if it defys their moral beliefs, or puts them out of their comfort zone, exc. Number two, it must challenge the unknown, or bring about a known fearful entity. Death, for example, is a very scary topic for most people. Because everyone will die, and it is unknown what happens. Then you can sub-branch that outwards, murder, monsters, exc. Then you could sub-branch that outwards again. Murder: A serial killer. Monsters: The Yeti. (Or you go into fantasy with vampires, werewolfs, whatever.) A note: Kids are easier to scare, and make a scary story. Why? Because kids are oblivious to the world. To them, their imaginations are extremely still active, and possible. "Mommy, I saw a monster in the closet" to them is possible. As we grow older, and become more aware of fact from fiction, less and less things scare us, but those feelings never leave, and if you are good enough, you can re-invent those fears and play off of their hidden consciousness. Stephen King is a great scary story writer, but he adhere to these basic rules. "The Mist" Plays off of the fear of the unknown "The Shining" Plays off the fear of insanity "Salems Lot" Plays off the fear of monsters, vampires. Exc, that is what makes a truly scary story. The rest is your skill as a writer, being able to connect the message, the plot, the characters, to the reader.
a scary plot and good writing... don't have time to list 'em, but some of poe's are certainly up there at the top... his 'the premature burial' being one of the scariest stories of all time, imo...
Scary is different for each reader. To me, excessive gore isn't scary. I like to be creeped out David Lynch style. That kind of scary is what gets into my bones. If you don't think you're being scary enough, try to add more suspense. (Hitchcock's Marnie comes to mind. Not a scary film at all, but the scene where Marnie is trying to sneak out of the office without the janitor catching her, and you see Marnie's high-heel slipping out of her jacket pocket as she tip-toes across the tiled floor. It's simple, but it's so intense. I cringe every time I watch it.) Scariest short story I've ever read: Stephen King's The Man In The Black Suit. Reading something "scary" never usually scares me...but this story gave me chills. Something about it unnerved me. And there's not much to the story. No gore, no hideous monster. Maybe it's the fact that the MC is a little boy, and King returns you to that vulnerable anything-can-happen state. Honorable mention: The Yellow-Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Subtext and politics aside, this short story is pretty high up there on the creepy factor. Scariest novel I've ever read: House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski. The "evil" is never really shown or explained. I would find myself looking over my shoulder sometimes as I read it. That book will make you start to question your sanity. That book is the definition of creepy.
David Lynch's movie "Eraserhead" was creepy - not in a suspense, "when will the monster pop out" way, but in more of a dystopian/depressing way with some body horror and disturbing scenes mixed in.
movies and stories are two different ballgames when it comes to 'scary' since what is actually seen and heard on the screen is what generates the fear, while in prose, those scenes have to be imagined with the aid of written words and thus will not be 'pictured' in the same way by, nor have the same effect on every reader...
The diary of Anne Frank is a wounderfully poignant short and true story of a young girl in war a war torn country, I read it at school ( more years ago than I care to admit) and still remember it. A truly beautiful piece of work. April Ps. I have looked for some guidelines of such literature but havent found anything helpful or constructive. I think many writers struggle with format and content of diary themes. This is the impression I get from this website. Well worth the read though, I like them.
Read "Freedom and Necessity," by Steven Brust and Emma Bull, for a nice example of a recent book written in epistolary form.
I can't seem to keep myself writing one story. Don't get me wrong. It's not as if I don't WANT to stay committed to the stories I write. Rather, it's the opposite. While I write one of my stories an idea or a concept for another story would pop in my mind in overdrive. I can normally stick to one story for a little while before I find myself beginning a new one. It's a real problem. Now I have ~8 unfinished fictions (short stories) sitting on my E drive, and that's not counting the ~40 incomplete fan fictions I also started to write. And guess how much stories I have completed? Two, and those were from early 2010 / late 2009. It's not like I am writing with complete seriousness, I just do it for fun. But when I re-read my incomplete story I think, 'why didn't you just stick to it and finish it.' My friend told me she writes all the ideas she gets in her head down on paper, and then systematically works through them one by one. It's a good idea and I've tried it, but my mind works in overdrive thinking about Story B so I can't even think of how to continue Story A. Does anyone else have the same problem? Or a Solution perhaps? Right now I'm just sticking it through and working on a Sci-fi story but I feel like the quality of my writing is dropping.
I use my blog when I am straying I sit down and discuss the story with my MC. It helps to focuse my mind on him and what were are doing.
Let the new ideas come. Write them down; maybe even outline the story so you don't lose the idea, but then get back to work on the current story. Make yourself finish it, even if the writing feels forced. After a while it become more natural. In short stories the pay-off is usually at the end. The best action, the twist, the most fun, so not getting there is actually cheating youself out of the best part of the story. Hang in there.
It's hard to control what you want to write, but there usually comes a point in a story where you start to write a scene which just feels like something that you just have to get through before the good parts up ahead, if you know what the plot is. The moment you think that you get fed up and want to write the exciting parts, but you can't move on because the scene's necessary, and it turns, maybe not into a block, but a sticking point, where you'd rather write something else because it's exciting NOW. I've found the best thing then is to write the next exciting scene in the story you want to finish, and to summarise the annoying bridging scene to write later, or to just introduce elements of interesting stuff earlier. "Oh but the spy character doesn't introduce himself for another 10 scenes!" you say, and then you write him falling through the roof ten scenes too early because of a wonky rafter... problem solved! Now you can get the story moving and work in all the witty things you knew he'd say if only he was around.
Sometimes you'll have to just push forward. With a short story, just think that 'at least you're not writing a novel', so it's not as huge a job. But yeah, you'll need some discipline I'm afraid. That can only come from within. Have you tried flash fiction, i.e. writing a really, really short piece? Perhaps start small and work your way up to something longer.
i dont think it has to be a problem as long as you dont have too many going on contemporarily and try and finish them even though you start on something else. Maybe try and write a synopsis when you get the idea and then keep writing on what you did before, that way you will express your ideas and you can let them mature while finishing your current story. I also heard about people writing maybe two or three stories in the same time, the thing is dont stop what you did because you get a new idea that might seem better.
I have the same problem. Sometimes what I find helps is takign out all the exiciting components in each of the different stories and trying to tie them together into one really great story. That usually knocks out a couple of individual ideas to shorten the list of stories you feel compelled to finish just because they're there.
thanks for the speedy replies! I'll try working harder, maybe someday I'll be disciplined enough to finish a full novel. I have actually. I think the shortest story I wrote was ~150 words. I still muster a few up when I feel like I need a quick reliever.
That's cool. Work from there. I wrote a few short stories last month, no more than 1000 words each. I don't normally write them at all, but got a few ideas I wanted to try out. I just wrote them in one evening, hot off the press as it were. How long of a story are you thinking of writing/having trouble with?
I have EXACTLY the same problem, my hard drive is littered with unfinished projects. I started using a nice little planner on my phone to store ideas when I'm on the go and then I transfer them to my laptop. I sometimes outline new ideas while working on others. It can get messy but I don't know how to work in other way.
Right now I'm working on a sci-fi, and so far have gotten about 4000 words down with no problem. I want this one to be a rather long work though, I was planning on having it around ~15-20k words. (That may not seem long to others, but the longest I've ever written was ~5500.) I already have a couple of ideas jumping around in my mind but I'm deciding to finish off this one first. ;P haha, I guess everyone has those plot-bunnies annoying them while they're working on a story.
Perhaps you never reach the stage where you feel like you care about your characters and their fate. You have to get to this point in order to feel invested in a story. In my main story, I feel like I know my MC and I am always thinking about what might happen to her. It would seem odd to abandon her and start something else.
I'm the kind of person who must do what he says or I will feel like a loser. Another person can insult me and it has little effect, but if my inner voice calls me a loser, it's a high insult. Thus, if I'm working on a story it must get finished or I will feel badly. The need to be "real" and not another dreamer has helped me complete many goals in life. It also feels very good.
Lots of writers suffer from the same thing. What happens is I usually write a page of it, and all of the stuff I have for it is in my head. I don't usually write that down. I now have 7 novel ideas. Every time it takes me beyond what I can handle; I go off and compare the stories and look for which has the most potential. I usually end up with one or two. I don't know if this'll help, but it is how I do it.
Another tip that's helping me a bit right now -- if lots of your stories have the same general premise, see if you can combine the character sets, storylines etc into one novel that's more complex.
